Team Racing Stripes
Race - Part 4
Part 5:
Kaylie could hear the raspy roar of the Sinistra’s V6 from the pits, no matter where it was on the track. She kept an eye on Rukari with the binoculars, concerned that the most aggressive driver on the track might just decide to eliminate his competition instead of racing fair.
Rukari was laser-focused, his twin hearts racing almost as fast as the V6, swerving around the IP which shuddered to a halt just before the pit lane. Near him, the Hakumai and the Tempest also dodged the downed IP, nearly bumping into each other and into Rukari’s Sinistra. Unfortunately, the only car that didn’t have oil on the tires was the tail-happy Hakumai, which dodged out of danger while the Tempest and Rukari in the Sinistra went for a wild spin. After spinning the tires in the dirt (and getting more than a fair share inside the car through the broken window), Rukari was back on the track and back up to speed.
He looked as he heard the Akira screech across the track and bang into the guardrail, then shook his head. As Rukari approached the pit exit from the track side, he saw the Reduit dart out, only to get hit by the Winthorpe, and not long after, the Reduit got clipped again, this time by the Mara.
“Rukari, how are you doing out there?” Jaden asked over the radio, while watching the Hakumai come in for brake pads and gas, followed by the Tempest, which only needed fuel. Kaylie watched the Xianfeng skidding and sliding around for a while, before she saw the Wells getting towed into the pits. Kaylie then watched the Mara violently lose control.
“They did three revolutions,” Kaylie said, pointing out the Mara.
“Impressive that they didn’t crash it,” Kayden replied.
Over the radio, Rukari’s answer to Jaden’s question was less than polite. “I am doing well. The car is not. It pulls hard to the left when I hit the brakes, everything in here is making whining, buzzing noises, and the handling is like getting laid in a wash tub. It’s terrible.”
Jaden grimaced. “I didn’t need that image in my head, Rukari.”
“Not my problem that I am blessed by Xelth, little one,” Rukari quipped back.
Much later on, Kaylie watched as the Tempest dashed into the pits, locking up the rear wheels to stop. As she watched them replace a brake hose, she quickly figured out that they used the handbrake to stop the car. Then she looked out at the track after hearing a loud bang and screeching tires, watching as the Winthorpe drove out of the grass, having left paint on the guardrail, while the Mara and the Xianfeng both were driving out of a few good tank-slappers. Through all of it, the Cabrera narrowly avoided the chaos.
Rukari put his foot down and was able to witness the Reduit and the Cabrera taking the corner ahead of him with a little too much speed, watching them both nearly leaving the track tail first. Rukari pressed on the screeching, well-worn brakes, then swooped past them, knowing that he had a great many laps to go before he could claim to have passed the Cabrera, though he was fairly sure he was just ahead of the Reduit.
Kaylie watched the Akira come in, smelling the reek of a hot clutch, followed by the Cabrera coming in after becoming the next casualty of the guardrails, being checked over, and topped up with fuel after nothing was found to be broken.
Kayden, this time, had the binoculars and got to see the Tempest sliding sideways around a corner. “If this was a drift race, that would almost be considered good,” Kayden said.
Kaylie looked, shrugged, then said, “I’ve seen better at a go-kart track.” She watched as the Mara came in for a tank of fuel, then looked out at the ongoing chaos on the track.
Rukari watched as the Tempest entered a corner way too fast for their brakes again, seeing the Tempest slam into the guardrail. Then the Akira did much the same behind the Traville, the engine again sputtering to a stop.
Jaden watched as the Tempest, Akira, Wells, and Xianfeng made it back to the pit lane, with two cars on a tow truck and two cars under their own power. As the Tempest was pulled behind the wall, he knew that the race was done for them. The Akira’s team started playing with wires under the dash again, and the engine roared to life once more. The Wells and the Xianfeng both were just taking on fuel.
With the Akira darting out of the pits in front of him, Rukari got to see the Akira and the FM come way-too-close together for comfort. The Akira straightened up and kept going, the FM spun around wildly, the Reduit, close to Rukari’s tail, dodged the spinning FM and brushed up against the guardrail, and the Winthorpe, coming around to lap them all again, had to dodge and weave between all of the chaotic bumper cars scattered about the track, doing nothing to hurt the car, but chewing up valuable time.
“If it is all the same to you, I would like to finish this,” Rukari called over the radio.
“Fang it, Rukari! Rev it up and give them hell!” Kaylie yelled back.
(OOC: Just for reference, the phrase “Blessed by Xelth,” when spoken by a Valraadi, has two possible meanings. The first, and this is the one Rukari implied, is that he is well-endowed. The second is that to be ‘blessed by Xelth’ is to have many children. Xelth is one of many Valraadi deities, known by them as “the father of us all.” Just some information for those left trying to understand Rukari’s little radio chat with Jaden. And yes, it means that Rukari did in fact insult Jaden at the end of the chat.)
